Barking with the big dogs
Subtitle: on writing and reading books for children
By: Natalie Babbitt ; introduction by Katherine Applegate
Contributors: Applegate, Katherine, author of introduction
Edition: First edition.
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780374310400
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Books and reading; Children's literature, American; History and criticism; Children
Description: "In this collection of essays and speeches written over the course of four decades, the beloved author of Tuck Everlasting explores what it was like to be a 'little dog' in the literary world, continually being asked to explain her choice to create books for young readers instead of doing something more serious for adults. Assembled by the author before her death, these pieces range far and wide in subject matter, from issues of responsibility when writing for children to the question of whether writers know what they are really saying -- and whether that matters. Babbitt offers incisive commentary on classic children's books as well as contemporary works, and reveals colorful insights into her published books and her own personal creative life. Some of the pieces gathered here were written to be spoken, and some were written to be read, yet in all of them Natalie Babbitt's distinctive voice comes through. It is the same voice we hear in her fiction: straightforward, a little droll, playful about serious things and serious about playful things. On every page, Barking with the Big Dogs exemplifies true reverence for children and an endless engagement with the challenge to write the books that shape them" --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-256).
Table of contents: title: Happy endings? of course, and also joy (1970); title: The child as chimpanzee (1971); title: The great American novel for children; title: and why not? (1973); title: You must go home again (1978); title: Saying what you think (1981); title: The way we were; title: and weren't (1985); title: Something has to happen (1985); title: The roots; title: and branches; title: of fantasy (1986); title: Easy does it (1986); title: Metamorphoses (1987); title: A question from Justine (1987); title: The purpose of literature; title: and who cares? (1989); title: Darkness and light (1990); title: Protecting children's literature (1990); title: Beacons of light (1993); title: finding paths (1999); title: New world, no world (2001); title: We're all mad here (2004.